Prior to joining Choice hotels, Mr. Lancaster had extensive on property hotel experience. With his initial entry position into the hospitality industry as a lifeguard, John quickly traversed the hotel landscape and held many positions including Director of Marketing and General Manager at multiple properties.

He joined Choice as the Director of Global Sales Sourcing and Solutions where he oversaw sourcing 7,000 RFP’s and rate loading. He also led a team to implement Salesforce technology. He quickly found his opportunity on the development team as the Director of Emerging Markets where he pushed the boundaries of hotel ownership engagement. He was then promoted to RVP Signature brands for Mid-Atlantic Region.

In his current role as Vice President, he is on a mission to educate, inspire and motivate underrepresented minorities about the benefits and simplify the process of hotel ownership. During his 7-year tenure in Development at Choice, he has personally helped 100+ underrepresented minorities (African American, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Veteran Americans and Women) achieve hotel ownership under the Choice flag and influenced countless others within and outside of the industry in Hotel ownership.

Mr. Lancaster was promoted to the Senior Leadership team and was responsible for developing the Choice Hotel Owners African American Alliance council. John is an inaugural member of the Black Franchise Leadership Council of the international franchise association. He sits on the Hospitality board of Morgan State university, the board of directors for visit Montgomery and is a DEI task force member for the American Hotel Lodging Association Foundation.

Choice Hotels International® is committed to achieving greater diversity in the lodging industry and Increasing the number of underrepresented minority owners is a key corporate initiative. As such there is dedicated personnel focused on this effort. Choice has industry leading Diversity Incentive Programs that are designed to provide additional financial resources to new diverse hotel developers.